Gems v Paulton A 03/03/12

Saturday the 3rd March saw Paulton play away to Gems in Bridgwater in what was anticipated to be a close match. However the match unfortunately didn’t pan out for Paulton with the team chasing Gems from the first whistle. The first quarter started with Vanessa playing GS who partnered up with Cheryl at GA with ease. However Gems’ defence proved too much, with Hayley and Debbie struggling to break through to find the shooters and their attackers testing the defence of Laura at WD, Victoria GD and Charlotte GK to score an impressive 14 goals winning the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Paulton try a change of tactics with Darby coming on at GA making her debut and Cheryl moving back to GS. After a positive team talk the girls knew that they had to settle into their own game and concentrate on passing wide into space to avoid the long arms of Gems. The team settled quickly with Darby connecting with Hayley and Debbie well to feed Cheryl at GS to convert valuable interceptions from the defence into goals. However, Paulton still finished the second quarter chasing Gems 29 – 13.

Half time saw another rotation in a bid to try something new against Gems’ very quick and tall attack. Kristie came on at GK to match the height of the GS, with Charlotte swapping with Laura at WD. As the team settled they were able to intercept a few centre court balls boosting their confidence pressurising Gems to keep their consistency. While Victoria and Kristie gelled quickly in defence causing the attack to miss feed the circle. Kristie’s height also ensured that the team were able to attack with the valuable rebounds she secured. Despite the team fighting back and reducing Gems to their lowest scoring quarter, Paulton could not catch them.

Finally in the last quarter Vanessa rotated back to GS with Cheryl moving to GA, Hayley to WD, Charlotte to WA and Jade to C in an attempt to try new options for future learning. Despite the large rotation the team continued to work hard but unfortunately as they found their feet, icy rain poured down causing difficulty for both teams on a slippery court. Unfortunately Paulton could not close the gap on Gems with too many errors throughout the match allowing the opposition to capitalise winning 55 – 26.